ONU effective from long range in 69-63 win over Mount Union

Mount Union head coach Mike Fuline's scouting report for Ohio Northern was very simple and direct: Guard the three-point shot, especially when Lucas Pennington has the ball behind the arc.

For the most part, the Purple Raiders followed the game plan but there were a couple of mishaps that proved to be costly during a 69-63 Ohio Athletic Conference loss at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex Saturday afternoon.

"Their outside shooting was a big concern for us coming into the game. They like to shoot a lot of three pointers," said Fuline. "Our guys were definitely aware that was what we needed to stop if we were going to win."

The Polar Bears had made 90 three-pointers coming into the game as a team, but Pennington was the main weapon from deep. The sophomore was hitting an even 50 percent (39 of 78) of his attempts. He didn't quite hit his average but was close enough to prevent the Purple Raiders from winning back-to-back games.

Pennington hit 5-of-11 threes, including a pair early in the second half that turned the game around after Mount Union had momentum and a 33-30 halftime lead. ONU came out firing on all cylinders in opening minutes of the second half and put together a 15-5 run in the first five minutes to erase the deficit and take a 45-38 lead.

A trio of three-pointers, which featured two by Pennington, helped ONU take control of the game and put UMU into an uphill battle for the rest of the game.

"We got caught out of position on some flares," said Fuline. "They ran some good plays to free him up, but we have got to fight harder on defense to stay with our man."

Ohio Northern (6-6, 3-3) eventually went ahead by 11 shortly after the 15-minute mark and held that margin on three different occasions in the second half with the last coming with just over four minutes left in the game. The Polar Bears held their ground and nearly blew a nine-point lead in the final 1:14.

Mount Union (5-8, 3-3) forced three turnovers in that span and scored seven straight points to trail 65-63 with 30 seconds remaining after a layup by freshman Cody Dillon off a steal. On the ensuing inbound, the Purple Raiders were forced to foul after not getting the steal and ONU's Isaiah Roux hit a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game (67-63) with 26 seconds left.

A missed three-pointer by Mount Union ended any hopes of a comeback and the Polar Bears tacked on two more free throws following the miss.

The near frenetic ending was almost a duplicate of the first half that saw Mount Union score the final 10 points to turn a seven-point deficit into a three-point halftime lead.

"We have to realize that we cannot start playing hard with a minute left in the half or the game," said Fuline. "We have to start the games and halves strong and play with a sense of urgency for the entire game."

Fuline stated that a little momentum was lost when the half arrived because his young team had scored 10 straight points and had control of the game during the stretch.

"The half coming when it did was probably a detriment tonight," Fuline said. "We were feeling good at that point. But give Ohio Northern credit they came out after the break and hit their shots."

Ohio Northern shot 47.2 percent for the game, highlighted by a 9-of-12 effort during the crucial start of the second half. Pennington led the Polar Bears with 21 points while Dominque Royal had 18 and Branden Rushton, the OAC's leading scorer, finished with just 10 points.

Mount Union shot 40 percent from the field but its numbers were skewed by the hot stretches at the end of each half. Steve Griffin and Jarrett Ruffin led the team with 13 points apiece while Nate Jacubec had 10 before leaving the game with 1:47 left after hitting his head on the floor while diving for a loose ball.

"We have to make our shots more consistently," Fuline said. "That's the key to winning games like this."